


Destiny's a Funny Thing

by gtgrandom



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Gay Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Major death but not Lance or Keith lol I'm not that cruel, Mutual Pining, Quantum Abyss (Voltron), Slow Burn, Smut, Wilderness Survival, broganes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-09-27 14:20:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20409187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gtgrandom/pseuds/gtgrandom
Summary: An AU in which Lance rescues Keith after a Blade mission gone wrong, and the two get stuck in the Quantum Abyss for two years.  Glimpses of past and future moments bring them closer.   But time is a sensitive thing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again?
> 
> This is going to be a BIG story guys. Those of you who read "Coming to Terms" know I'm about to serve you a juicy, fluffy meal and then flay your asses with some major angst. I don't have an update schedule, and I'm working on a YJ fic at the moment too, but I had to get this out there and see if anyone even liked the premise before I dove in head first. 
> 
> WARNING: Unlike CtT, this fic is rated EXPLICIT. There is going to be some heavy friends-with-benefits going on throughout a good chunk of the story, in part bc I don't believe for one second that our boys would be able to contain their testosterone for two years, and also bc I just want to practice writing smut XD. If you're not comfortable with this stuff...you could probably skip most of the sex scenes and be okay, but I'm just letting you know now that a few chapters are going to be pretty explicit!
> 
> Also, there's a major death in this fic. It's not Keith or Lance, but it's pretty significant. Angst, angst, angst, I tell you.

_"Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday."_

\- Iroh, Avatar the Last Airbender

* * *

**Lance's POV**

“It’s a distress call. From Keith.”

“Keith?” Lance cried, shooting to his feet in alarm. They hadn’t heard anything from the paladin in _weeks_. “Is he okay?”

Shiro looked slightly startled by Lance’s reaction, but he nodded. “He’s stranded with his mother in something called the quantum abyss. They’re running out of supplies.”

Pidge spun in her seat. “Wait, wait, his _what_?”

The team exchanged looks of astonishment. 

Shiro raised his brow. “I’m not sure about that either. Apparently his mother is alive. She’s Galra, as we suspected, and she’s a member of the Blade. He found her on a mission and they crash landed in their escape.”

“But like…he’s okay?” Lance checked. 

Pidge shot him a strange look that he purposefully ignored. 

“I’m not sure. He recorded the transmission two days ago. We need to move as soon as possible.”

Allura nodded, her concerned expression turning serious. “Send me the coordinates, and we will depart immediately.”

Shiro shook his head. “Keith says the abyss is dangerous. We can’t risk taking the Castleship too close, or Voltron. Set us outside the quadrant, and I’ll take Black in for a rescue op.”

Lance made a whining sound in the back of his throat he was not proud of. “Alone? Is that a good idea?”

Coran sighed. “Yes, I believe that is a wise choice. The abyss is a very dangerous place. Keith is lucky to have reached us at all. We must be diligent in our navigation.”

“Can I go with you?” Lance heard himself asking, staring at Shiro, pleading.

This time he could feel Pidge and Hunk both openly staring at him, and Shiro gave him a contemplative look. Could he see right through him? Could _everyone_?

“I suppose having our sharpshooter wouldn’t hurt,” Shiro said, grinning a little, and Lance breathed out. 

_Hang in there Keith,_ he thought, wishing desperately that the boy could hear him. _I’m coming for you. _

OoO

“We’re zeroing in on Keith’s position. Looks like he’s stuck on an asteroid up ahead.”

Lance’s grip tightened on the back of Shiro’s pilot chair.

He hadn’t seen the paladin in person for months. 

Did he look the same? Had he grown out his mullet? Had the Blade wrung out all his fiery temper by now? Or was he still as head-strong as ever?

Lance had been blindsided by Keith’s choice to leave the team. He’d witnessed his withdrawal, his gravitation toward the Blade, but he’d never suspected Keith would _quit_ Voltron. As he’d hugged him goodbye, he’d suddenly realized how little he knew about his friend, his leader. They’d grown closer over Shiro’s absence, coevolved into something stronger, something better, but Lance still didn’t know what Keith’s dreams were, or where he’d grown up, or really…anything of substance. They’d never sat down with a beer and ran their drunken mouths. 

Lance didn’t know Keith. Not enough. Not like he’d wanted. Not like he’d _planned_.

And before Lance could finally tear down those walls between them, Keith had run off with the Blade. He’d slipped through his fingers, leaving Lance lost and slightly panicked that they’d never again get the chance to cross that bridge. 

He’d run out of time, and he hadn’t even known the clock was ticking.

Now he’d see him again, not over a short video call, not through the static of a transmission, but in the flesh, face-to-face, and Lance…

Well.

He was feeling a lot of different emotions right now. 

As Black maneuvered through the asteroid belt, Lance watched the readings on the dash begin to flicker and glitch. A knot formed in his gut, twisting as he looked outside the craft at the huge celestial objects in the distance moving…. irregularly. There was no orbital pattern here. It looked like a shipwreck in the deep of space, the debris slowly drifting in all directions.

_The massive dark stars and planets in the abyss make space-time go a little crazy_, Pidge had warned them after conducting some research on the area. _Stay on the outer edge where Keith is. Don’t get sucked into the central gravity of the thing. Even Black can’t withstand the energy there. _

“Hang in there,” Shiro said to his lion, fists tight around the stick. “Keith is up ahead. We’re almost to him.”

Just as Lance caught sight of the wreckage on one of the asteroids, a yellow, pulsing light flashed in the distance, forcing him to shield his eyes. 

“Uh….what’s _that_?” he murmured.

Shiro squinted at the brightening horizon, the swelling sun. “I’m not—”

Black jerked sideways as the blinding light hit them at full force, and Lance…

Lance was no longer in the lion.

He was back on the training deck with Hunk, watching Keith take on one of the simulator bots. Keith had just beat his own personal record on the simulation, and he refused to move his ass off the training floor until he lost. Because he was probably an only child who never learned how to fucking _share_.

He was wearing his skin-tight shirt and black jeans, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the sweaty strands clinging to his neck and temple. Keith’s toned abs were visible through his shirt. The guy was ripped.

Lance felt his stomach stir with that same hot prickly feeling he always got around Keith. The one he could never really identify, but one that annoyed him to no end.

_It’s jealousy_, his mind supplied. _You’ll never look like that. But you want to. If you looked like him, Allura would definitely pay you more attention_.

And fuck, his mind was right. Keith was sharp edges. His waist was slim, but taut with muscle. His shoulders were fucking perfect. And his eyes. Jesus. Lance wished he had such big, fierce, beautiful—

“You’re drooling,” Hunk said.

Lance blinked, tearing his gaze from Keith to his friend and his stupidly smug face.

“Am not!” he screeched, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks. “I’m memorizing his fighting style so I can take him down!”

Hunk snickered. “Sure, Lance. Whatever you say.”

Lance swallowed. Who was he kidding? It wasn’t just Keith’s looks that made him a more appealing choice to Allura. He was a better fighter by far.

He’d been at this for hours, and he was still holding up against a bot on one of the highest levels of the simulation. Ducking and rolling. Slicing this way and that, wiping the sweat off his face between strokes. His stamina was unparalleled.

Still, his attacks were growing labored, and the bot finally gained the upper hand. It threw Keith on his back, spear at the boy’s throat, and Lance felt a strange spike of fear ripple through him.

“I yield,” Keith muttered, chest heaving, and the bot backed away, disappearing beneath the floor.

Relief bubbled up in Lance’s chest, and he scowled. “Now that you’re finally done getting your ass handed to you, can Hunk and I have a turn?”

Keith sat up, panting. His eyes were hard. Annoyed. 

But he still smiled that arrogant smile. “Sure. You need the most practice out of anyone anyway.”

_Dammit_, Lance thought despairingly as the boy stalked off to the showers. _Even his comebacks are better._

OoO

The solar flare faded, and Lance opened his eyes. 

He was back in the lion with Shiro. 

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro responded tensely, “but it messed with Black’s motor functions. We need to get Keith and leave as soon as possible.”

He set them down roughly on the asteroid, Black’s system beeping and flashing, the graphics running haywire. They’d landed off-target, nowhere near Keith’s crash site. 

_Not good. _

Lance was the first out of the lion, bounding for the pile of scrap metal in the distance. Keith had used the remains of his ship to fashion himself a kind of shelter, but Lance wasn’t sure if it had offered much protection out here, where solar flares could send you back in time. He’d been waiting for them for two days. Who knew what other dangers he’d faced?

_Please be okay. _

_Please be okay. _

Lance stopped just short of the shelter, staring at the two figures beneath the crippled wing of the fighter jet. A masked woman lay on the ground, covered in blood. Another individual sat beside her in his Blade attire, mask on, breathing too shallowly. 

“…Keith?”

The boy started, looking up at him with those hidden blue-gray eyes. “…_Lance_?”

Lance’s heart quivered at the broken astonishment in his voice. “Shiro! They’re here!”

Shiro’s “coming” over the comm barely registered against the loud thudding of Lance’s heartbeat. He knelt down across from Keith, and Keith stared at him, unmoving.

“You’re…you came.”

“Yeah, of course we did,” Lance said. “Is this…is she…?”

Keith followed Lance’s gaze to the Galran. “She’s my mother, Krolia. She’s…been out of it since we crashed. I think she’s lost too much blood.”

Lance studied the boy’s stiff posture. Keith had never told him about his home life, but he’d heard enough kids talking about the orphan pilot, the boy at the top of their class. And now Keith had finally found a piece of his past, of his family, and here the world was trying to rip it from his clutches. Lance ached for him.

“It’s okay. We’ll get her out of here. Both of you.”

Keith released a heavy breath, nodding in thanks, and for the first time in months Lance felt…useful.

This was his role, wasn’t it? Supporting Keith? Being his right-hand man?

He’d forgotten what it felt like to be something more than Loverboy Lance. Shiro as the Black Paladin never needed any help or advice, and with Allura following Lotor around 24/7, Hunk befriending all the Galran diplomats, and Pidge off with her family, Lance had never felt more like a side piece. 

But in the first twenty seconds of interacting with Keith, he already felt…_valued_.

Shiro ducked into the shelter then, taking in Keith with wide eyes. Lance expected the man to rush over and hug the boy, crush him in his giant brotherly arms, but he just sighed deeply, his eyes creasing in his smile. “Keith. I’m glad you’re okay. You gave us a real scare.”

Lance frowned at the response, glancing over at Keith, who said nothing and revealed nothing with his mask in place. Still, Lance could _feel_ the blow of that reunion. 

What had happened to those two?

How had they grown so far apart in so little time?

Keith stood, taking in the other man as he would a superior officer, not an old friend and definitely not family. “Shiro, you need to take her to your lion.” His voice cracked. “She’s not going to last much longer.”

Shiro glanced at the woman on the ground, thinking face on. Calculating.

And that was when Lance noticed the blood on Keith’s armor.

Lance gaped, grabbing hold of Keith’s arm and turning him around. “Keith. Please tell me that’s not your blood!”

Keith leaned away. “It’s not a priority right now.” Shiro opened his mouth to protest, but Keith cut in. “I’ll be fine. You need to get her to Black first. Please, Shiro.”

Shiro breathed out. “Fine, Lance you get Keith. You saw what happened to the lion in that flash. We can’t afford to waste any time.” He bent down and picked the Galran woman up, her head slumping against his shoulder as he carried her across the rocky terrain. 

Lance glared at Keith, his gaze dipping to the dark red stain across his slim waist. “How bad is it?”

“Bad.”

Lance rolled his eyes, moving for the paladin and lifting his arm over his shoulder, holding him upright. “Okay. Well, once we get through this abyss, it’s home free, and we’ll stick you in a pod for a week or two.”

“Sounds great.”

Lance squeezed his wrist. “It’s good to see you, man.” 

Keith slumped against him as they faced the barren landscape. “Yeah. You too.”

OoO

As they moved for the lion, Lance felt Keith grow heavier and heavier at his side. He was in seriously bad shape if he was allowing himself to show weakness around Lance. 

Lance tried not to dwell on it too long. He needed to focus on getting Keith to safety. Back to a pod. Back _home_.

He could make out the silhouette of the Black Lion in the distance, stark black against the giant star behind it. They were getting close.

That, of course, was when the sun swelled for the second time.

“Shit,” Lance hissed, watching the sky light up and blot out his vision of the lion.

He dropped to the ground with Keith, covering his head as the white-hot light shuddered through space and crashed upon them.

OoO

This time Lance was with Shiro back on a Galra ship.

Shiro was stumbling out of an empty room, hair long and wild. Eyes haunted.

_Oh_, Lance realized with a sick twist in his gut. _This is his escape._

Lance watched as the Black Paladin pushed his way down the purple-lit corridor, clutching his head. 

He looked so confused. So _scared_. Shiro never showed fear, not so unreservedly. But it was like Lance could see the nightmares unfolding in his mind, across the back of his eyelids. 

He cut another corner, and the droids in the new corridor turned on him, guns blazing. 

OoO

The Black Lion roared loudly, smoking and sparking. Rearing back and away from them. Lance could hear Shiro over the comm trying to calm the machine down. 

“That happen a lot around here?” Lance asked, blinking away the spots of his burned retinas.

Keith grunted. “Sort of…”

Lance hefted Keith back on his feet, and they stumbled their way closer to the lion. They were only twenty yards out, but they weren’t moving quickly enough, not with Lance all but dragging Keith along.

On the horizon, Lance watched the sun expand once more, and he swore. 

No.

No, not yet. Black couldn’t take another hit!

He heard Shiro over the comms, cackling, garbled, panicked. 

The light wave would engulf them at any second. Lance was so frustrated he felt like crying. He wasn’t fast enough. He wasn’t _strong_ enough to get them there in time.

And then the Black Lion turned on its thrusters and shot away from them, into the stars. 

Out of reach. 

Out of sight.

Lance stared after it in shock.

Had...had Shiro just…_left_ them?

The wave of energy hit them hard this time, and Lance hadn’t been prepared—too stunned to pay attention. The wave swept them off their feet, blowing them over the rocky surface. Lance scrambled for purchase, but his grip slipped over dust and rock and suddenly he was flying frictionless into the cold emptiness of space.

The memory hit him mid scream.

OoO

Lance was on the bridge with Shiro this time. A ghost to his leader’s presence.

“Keith?”

Keith’s image flickered from the holoscreen, locking on the paladin and softening slightly. “Shiro. Um…hi.”

Shiro’s face pinched in confusion. “Keith. Is something wrong? Why are you calling at this hour? Where’s Kolivan?”

Keith’s eyes wilted slightly. “I’m not calling on behalf of the Blade this time.”

Shiro raised a brow. “A personal call? I thought that wasn’t allowed.”

“It’s not.” A small smile. “That’s why I didn’t tell Kolivan.”

It was silent for a few beats, and Lance couldn’t believe Shiro wasn’t catching onto Keith’s desperation. Usually the guy was so emotionally intelligent. Couldn’t he see why Keith was calling?

Wasn’t it obvious?

Keith cleared his throat. “How is everyone?”

“We’re all fine here. Are you sure you’re okay?”

_No. He’s not okay!_ Lance wanted to scream. _Look at him!_

Keith’s tired, pained eyes bore dark circles around them. He had a bruise on one cheek and a new scar on the other. He looked like shit. 

Keith had never called Lance or the team on a personal call while he was away. At least, not that Lance ever knew of. Shiro had never told them about this. Usually if Lance saw Keith on a video call, he was standing back behind Kolivan, nearly out of frame. 

Now, up so close, Lance could see how drained Keith was. How miserable. 

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Keith lied. He looked like he wanted to say so much more, but Shiro wasn’t receiving him like a concerned brother and friend. He was receiving him like a soldier of superior standing. Cold and impatient. Whatever Keith had called to say crumbled on his tongue. “I should go. Early day tomorrow. Um…don’t tell the others I called. We both know Lance is going to abuse this line if he gets his hands on it.”

_Rude_.

But true. Lance would have called the shit out of that line.

Shiro nodded. “Of course. Be careful out there.”

“I will,” Keith lied again. His smile was feeble. Sad. 

It hurt Lance more than anything. 

OoO

When Lance came to, he was still twirling through space.

His heart seized in panic, and he righted himself, looking around wildly for Keith. In the distance, he saw the boy floating away from him, unmoving. Blood droplets like beads of marbles around him.

Lance used his thrusters to tackle Keith and glomp onto his figure, clinging to him as they spiraled through the asteroid belt alone.

Keith gasped beneath his mask, searching the empty space around them. Holding tight to Lance, the only other life-form for lightyears.

“Shiro left us…” he whispered. Horrified.

“Yeah,” Lance managed, glancing around for a sign of the lion. “He _did_.”

He’d probably saved the lion in doing so, and in turn, would likely save Krolia’s life. But…he’d still abandoned them in the abyss with no means of communication. With no means of escape.

It seemed so…out of character for Shiro.

Lance was glaring at the star that had seriously fucked over their escape plan when he caught sight of something to the left of the asteroid belt.

Something big.

“What the…”

It was moving fast for its size, maneuvering through the rocks with a strange kind of grace.

It…it was…

“Dude. Do you see that, or am I tripping on space fumes?”

Keith turned, stilling in his arms. “Is that…a _whale_?”

It sure as hell looked like one. A space whale. In space! 

…Coming right for them.

“I don’t know. But it’s moving. And it looks like it’s got some kind of vegetation on it,” Lance observed. “And we’re running out of air.”

Keith nodded, sharing his wavelength. “Alright. Let’s catch the bus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins!! 
> 
> I'm so excited to write about my babies again. Most of you already know, but all things vld related make me spit with rage these days. All the characters deserved so much more, and I will continue to write the many variations of what that could have looked like. <3
> 
> Lmk your thoughts below! If you want to follow my tumblr (@gtgrandom or @ericagallegos), I'll try and notify you guys of updates there!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruhhhhh thanks for all the support so far!! I guess I'm diving into another story haha. Updates won't be as frequent as they were for CtT, but I'll do my best. 
> 
> FYI I'm never watching the show again, so hopefully they're both still in character lmao. 
> 
> Also...warning for blood and grossness!!

**Lance's POV**

Lance grabbed the blade’s hand and propelled them toward the moving creature at full speed. Which…might not have been the smartest move in hindsight.

Like meteors striking the earth, they crashed into the trees with yelps of startled pain and rolled onto a grassy hillside, battered and broken.

The universe took a few moments to stop spinning.

_Ouch. Ouch, fucking, ouch. _

Lance groaned, digging his fingers into the soil and lifting his head.

Grass. Rocks. A clearing with a few sparse trees. Earth-like, minus the strange flora.

Still. It looked like there were no predators in the immediate vicinity, which was good. Lance had no energy to kick ass right now.

He checked the oxygen levels of his suit and was relieved to see a beautiful green check mark, deeming it safe. He removed the visor on his helmet and breathed in the air, watching as Keith yanked off his own mask, heaving.

_Shit_.

Keith looked horrible. His face was ashen. Profile sharp and agonized.

“Shiro? Shiro come in,” Lance said into the comms, staring as Keith lay back down in the grass, hissing and cursing in pain.

Nothing.

Not even static.

Keith rolled onto his back, eyes fluttering shut, face twisted up in anguish. Lance’s gut dropped, and he sat up with fresh urgency. “Keith?”

The paladin bit his lip, shaking his head. 

Lance didn’t know what that meant, but it couldn’t be good. “Buddy, how you doing? What do you need?”

“Lance….fuck, Lance I need you to get it out.”

Lance crawled over to him, taking in his bloody torso with wide, panicked eyes. “Get what out. _Where_?”

Keith flinched, his eyes glistening. And fucking hell, Lance hadn’t seen those eyes up close in months. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed them. 

He only wished they weren’t bleeding tears. 

“The glass. I need you to get the glass out of my side. And then I need you to cauterize the wound.”

Lance stared down at him, processing.

Glass…cauterize….

“Are you fucking _kidding_ me?”

“I’m not going to make it otherwise. I’d do it myself, but I can’t see anything.”

Lance sat back on his heels. “I’m not a surgeon, Keith.”

“I know. But we don’t know when Shiro is coming back for us. Right now…you’re all I’ve got.”

OoO

Lance slid Keith’s uniform down to his waste, and he stared for a moment at the gruesome picture before him.

The wound was so much worse than he’d been led to believe.

Deep and thick and horrible. Spouting blood. 

Blood in _buckets_.

“…Jesus.”

Keith winced. “Not…helping.”

“Right, sorry.”

Lance stripped his own gauntlet and glove off, baring his fingers. It wasn’t the most sanitary procedure, but they didn’t have any medical supplies on them. That was all in the lion.

The lion that _left_ them.

“Okay, alright. This is really happening. I’m going in.”

“Are you going to narrate?”

Lance huffed, glad Keith still had some bite left in him.

“No. But I _am_ going to tell you a story, and you are going to appreciate it.” He ran his hand gently over Keith’s abdomen, resting his fingertips on the edge of the wound. _Oh god._ “You ready?”

“On the…edge of my…seat.” 

“Okay. So. When Lotor was aboard the Castleship, being a royal prick, I may have lent him some shower products.”

Keith bit his lip, smiling a little around the pain.

Lance spread the wound apart with his forked fingers, spotting the thin edge of glass wedged in Keith’s flesh. “See. We’d bonded over the fact that the Castle was no place to maintain personal hygiene for men of our tastes. The shower water is too hard and full of weird space minerals and chemical smells. The only thing to wash with in the communal showers are cheap products Coran bought from the space mall, on sale. Obviously, a Galran prince is used to royal baths and shit. He’s used to being pampered, right? So as a means of making peace with him, I offered him some of my personal conditioner I’d bought in Nanray.” 

Lance cringed as he inserted two fingers into Keith’s wound, the warm blood coating his hand. Keith clenched his fists at his sides, cramming his eyes shut. Lance really should have gotten him something to bite down on, he realized too late. 

_It’s fine_.

He trusted Keith not to bite off his own tongue.

“What he didn’t know, is that I was planning on getting back at him for being a total ass to us for the past year, and I had the perfect plan.” He wiggled his eyebrows to help keep Keith engaged—he was flipping shit on the inside. “See. I had originally gone to Pidge for help in pranking _you_, Mr. Mullet. We’d filled a bottle with alien bleach and hair dye, and we waited for you to use it in the communal bathroom. But instead, you pulled out your horrendous little two-in-one bottle and destroyed our dreams.”

Lance got a good grip on the glass now, and he glanced down at Keith, who huffed raggedly. “Sorry…to…disappoint.” 

“Nah. We’d have wasted it on you.” Lance grinned. “But the morning after I gave Lotor the exact same bottle, he walked onto the bridge with horrendous neon pink hair!”

Keith’s mouth pulled into a wide, grudging smile, and Lance took the opportunity to wrench the glass out of his stomach.

The paladin screamed.

It was short and clipped, silenced quickly when Keith clamped his own mouth shut, stifling the whimpers, the aftershocks. 

Lance set the shard of glass down beside them, his hands drenched hot, ruby blood. “Fuck, fuck, I’m so sorry, Keith.”

Tears sprung in Keith’s eyes, but he willed them away, panting. “The rest,” he choked out.

“…What?”

“You have to get the rest.”

Lance peered down at him in concern. “That was it, bud.”

Keith shook his head, biting his lip in pain. “There are fragments. I can feel them.”

Oh.

Oh _fuck_.

Lance stared down at his hand. “How…?”

Keith shook his head. “Your hand.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know. But—”

“I’m all you’ve got, I know, I know.”

Lance took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He could do this. He could do this for _Keith_. 

So once more, he used one hand to spread the wound open wide, and the other to…dig.

“What…happened…after?” Keith panted through gnashed teeth. Lance was awed by the boy’s ability to remain conscious right now. But he’d indulge him if just to keep him distracted. To keep him kicking.

“Oh. Well. Allura and Shiro yelled at me. Lotor gave me the evilest look I’ve ever seen someone make in my life. And Coran, Pidge, and Hunk nearly pissed themselves from laughing so hard.”

Lance remembered it well. The Galran prince had stalked into the room that morning, livid, his pristine white hair wrapped up in a towel. Lance had gone to stand behind Hunk to hide his titters, and when everyone asked Lotor what was up with his hairdo, he’d unveiled Lance’s best prank to date.

He’d looked like a fucking troll doll! 

As Lance had hoped, lots and lots of cackling had ensued. Even Allura had stifled a laugh. It was a small moment of joy with his friends, and a small, petty victory for Lance.

Keith tilted his head back, his chin in the air. He was trembling in pain. “Wish…wish I could have seen it…”

Lance nodded, excavating a small piece of glass. “Me too.” 

In fact, that had been his one regret in the ordeal—that Keith had not been there to witness it. To encourage him or reprimand him, it didn’t matter. The prank had felt incomplete without him.

Slowly, Lance fished out the remaining glass from Keith’s side. At least, the pieces he could find. By that point, Keith was on the edge of consciousness, and Lance caught sight of the tears leaking out of the boy’s eyes, down his temples, and _fuck, Keith never cried, this must hurt like a bitch._

When Keith motioned him to stop, Lance told him to put pressure on his wound and left to find firewood.

In his quick trot along the spine of the titanic whale, he spotted a small river and crouched at its bank, washing his hands. His _shaking_ hands.

He’d just had his hands in someone’s body.

In _Keith’s_ body.

He didn’t think he’d ever remove the image from his brain, the phantom sensation from his palms.

_Be brave, Lance, _he told himself._ Keith’s the one who survived that procedure without any painkillers. Be strong. For him. _

Quickly, he gathered kindling and hurried back to Keith only to find the boy even more pale and ghostly than before. 

It formed a knot of unease inside Lance’s stomach.

With a shaky hand, he proceeded to build the fire as fast as humanly possible, sparking it to life with his laser gun. And then he held Keith’s blade to the flames until it was red hot.

He glanced back at Keith, who lay watching him. He shook his head, suddenly nauseous. “Keith, I can’t. I can’t do this to you.” He’d never forget the sounds of his screams.

Keith sighed like he’d expected this, and he gestured for Lance to bring him the blade.

Lance obeyed—warily.

“Keith…”

With a deep breath, Keith brought the scorching blade down on himself, and his cry of pain was muffled. He curled into himself, shaking.

He held the blade just long enough to melt his skin—to seal the wound—before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the knife fell to the ground.

He’d knocked himself out.

OoO

Lance cleaned Keith’s wound and wrapped him up with strips of his Marmora hood. Then he sat at the base of a tree, pulling Keith’s body to him so that the other paladin could lean back against his chest. 

The boy was half-conscious, shaking in pain, and the tremors vibrated through Lance's body.

Lance was close to tears watching his friend writhe in agony. “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered into Keith’s hair, putting his arms around him. “We’re getting out of here, Mullet. We’ll be okay.”

The boy tightened his hold on Lance’s arms.

“We’ll be okay,” Lance repeated.

OoO

Lance woke up in the middle of the night to Keith sliding out of his grip and falling sideways into the dirt, groaning. Lance murmured sleepy apologies, reaching for him once more, but he froze.

Keith’s dark hair was sweaty and plastered to his forehead and temples. He was shivering, inhaling sharply, eyelids fluttering.

He looked awful.

He looked…like he was dying. 

Lance cautiously knelt before him, pressing his palm to Keith’s damp forehead.

His gut plummeted. Keith was on _fire_. 

He had a fever. An extremely high fever.

_Fuck_. Did that mean he was infected? Had they cauterized his wound for nothing? Was he going to die, for nothing?

No.

Lance wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t.

He grabbed Keith by the armpits and slid him further away from the flicking campfire. He dragged him over to a nice bed of cool grass and wildflowers and proceeded to wipe the sweat from his face, watching the way Keith’s expression softened at the touch. 

“You can’t die on me, Mullet. You _can’t_,” Lance whispered, bending his head down over the boy. Resting his nose on his collarbone. “You can’t leave me alone. Not again.”

OoO

The next morning, Keith looked about half a wink from death, and Lance couldn’t take it. 

He spent most of the day exploring the forest around them without wandering too far from camp. For a good while, he watched the strange alien birds and rodents consume berries from a bush. His growling stomach encouraged him to pick a few and rub them along his wrist.

If he broke out in hives, he could infer that they were likely poisonous—a survival tip he’d learned from Hunk. 

When nothing came of it, Lance nibbled on one, satisfied to be rewarded with a sweet, sugary taste. He’d test them on himself before subjecting Keith to them. Just in case.

He boiled some water and cooled it down to give to Keith, watching the boy fight the infection inside him. 

Watching him lose.

OoO

Another day passed, and Lance had been terrified to wake up.

He didn’t want to turn over and see Keith’s corpse. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive it. If he’d be able to keep his sanity long enough to give his friend a proper burial on this strange space creature. 

If Keith died on him, Lance knew he’d break down and lose himself. Survival would mean nothing at that point.

But then he’d heard Keith’s labored breaths behind him, and he’d almost cried in relief.

Keith had made it another night. 

He was still fighting.

OoO

Keith shuddered, covered in a sweaty sheen. Lance had done his best to keep the boy cool, but not too cool. He knew the fever was necessary to fight the sickness. 

Even if it killed him to torture his friend.

Lance placed a strip of wet cloth on Keith’s head, and the boy hissed, swatting at him. “It _hurts_…”

Lance hated himself for pinning Keith’s hand to the ground and dragging the cold cloth over his bare chest. “I know. But you need to hold on a little longer, Keith. Just a little longer.”

Keith's face twitched in discomfort, and suddenly, the world turned bright around Lance. Too bright. 

He watched his own shadow vanish in the white light of another solar flare.

_Shit_.

OoO

Lance found himself in the med bay of the Garrison. Morning light pooled into the room, painting the room a soft yellow.

“Keith, you’ve got a fever,” Shiro said, sitting on the edge of Keith’s bed. He was younger then—he didn’t have his scar yet. Keith was only twelve, at most. And he was currently swatting at Shiro, trying to get out of the sheets.

“I don’t get fevers,” Keith insisted, even as he sat there shivering and pale.

Lance rolled his eyes. Of course Keith thought he was immune to _illness_.

Shiro sighed. He placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and dipped his head so the boy would look at him. “Even the best cadets get sick sometimes, you know.”

Keith scowled, but he quit flailing about. “Even you?”

Something sad flickered in Shiro’s eyes. “Even me.”

Keith harrumphed and leaned back against the pillows. “I just…hate it in here. It’s stuffy. And the nurse is annoying. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

Shiro nodded. He walked over to the window and slid it open, glancing back at Keith with a warm smile. He grabbed hold of the boy’s cot and rolled him toward the wall, close enough so that Keith could reach his hand out and feel the breeze.

“Better?” he asked.

Keith tried and failed to hide his grin. “I guess.”

OoO

That night, after Lance had fed them both a nice serving of potentially toxic berries, he lay down beside Keith with his arm tucked under his head, staring at the boy’s profile.

Keith trembled, muttering under his breath in his delirium, and Lance felt tears well in his eyes.

He was so _afraid_.

Not just of losing Keith, but of being stranded here alone in this place without anyone, maybe forever.

Never seeing his family again. His friends.

Stuck in space with god knows what. There were strange noises in the woods of this place. Monstrous sounds. And he was suddenly a child again, afraid of the dark.

A lump formed in his throat, and Lance scooted closer to Keith, burying his nose in the boy’s shoulder and taking his gloved hand in his own. Keith’s fingers tightened around his hand, but other than that, he was unresponsive. 

“Please don’t leave me,” Lance begged, closing his eyes, a tear making its way down his cheek. “I can’t do this without you, Keith.”

_Please wake up._

OoO

The strange repertoire of the alien birds woke Lance. 

He blinked out at a field of empty grass, the flattened earth before him the only evidence that another person had slept there last night.

Fear shot through Lance’s heart. 

_Keith_.

He sat upright, searching the camp for signs of his raven-haired friend. 

Not a soul.

Lance stood, breathing heavily around the lump in his throat. Had an animal come and dragged Keith away in the middle of the night? Had an alien abducted him while Lance had been sleeping? How could he have slept through that? How could he have failed his friend, his comrade?

Lance ran through the trees, calling Keith's name, voice catching on the wind.

What if Keith had awoken in a delirium and wandered off to die alone? People with severe hypothermia were known to do shit like that. Maybe a prolonged fever could reap the same results.

His mind was running rampant with horrible scenarios when a twig snapped behind him.

Lance whirled around in terror. And he froze at the sight before him.

Keith. 

Upright. Shirtless. Hair wet. A bright purple fish in either hand. 

Seemingly alive and healthy.

Lance stared at him for several heartbeats, finding his breath. Then he marched forward and punched Keith in the shoulder.

Keith stumbled back. “Ouch! What the hell, Lance.”

“I thought…I thought you disappeared! I thought the forest monster got you!!”

“The what?”

Lance was about to cry. He lifted his arms and dropped them. “I…dammit, Keith, you scared me to death.”

Keith’s indigo eyes widened, and he stepped forward as if to comfort Lance, only to remember his hands were occupied. “I’m sorry. I woke up feeling better. I was starving_,_ so I caught some fish.”

Lance glared at him and the nasty wound on his abdomen. “You shouldn’t be moving around in your condition, pisshead!”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You looked like you hadn’t slept in a few days. Or eaten anything.” He shoved one of the dead fish into Lance’s chest. “Here.”

They glared at one another.

Lance scowled, but he accepted the slimy food, dipping his head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Keith lowered his gaze. “Yeah. Thanks to you.”

Lance scoffed. “All I did was sit next to you and panic.”

Keith snorted, already moving back toward camp. “You did way more than that.”

Lance watched him trudge through the trees, limping slightly, but still leagues better than he'd been before. 

Moving. Breathing.

_Alive_.

Lance breathed out. So he wasn’t going to die alone after all. He had Keith here with him. Stubborn, introverted, emotionally stunted Keith.

His smile dwindled. 

It was just the two of them here. Stranded on a space whale. For…an unknown period of time. _Together_. 

Lance raised the fish to his face, staring into its giant dead eyes. Its soulless gaze.

_Well, Mr. Fish? _

_What the hell am I gonna do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with torturing my faves. 
> 
> I have a general outline of how this fic is gonna go, and several chapters written throughout, but is there anything specific you guys want to see? The boys have the time to get into plenty of trouble, so lmk if you have any adventure ideas for the whale or scenes you'd like to see play out <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I whipped this out this afternoon, so I'm sorry for any mistakes / awkward pacing. I just wanted to get this out of the way so I can get to the juicy stuff. 
> 
> * evil laughter *

**Lance's POV**

In their short exploration of the whale’s back, Lance and Keith discovered several important things.

One, there was no change in elevation. It was impossible to get a good visual of the landscape with no mountains or hillscapes. 

Two, there was a single, slow-running river with frozen headwaters on the underside of the whale. The river drained into a central lake. The water was drinkable and swimmable—something Lance had discovered the first day here by promptly collapsing into the river and ingesting the stuff.

Three, the rest of the landscape was forested, and neither boy could identify any of the plants. Lance had been hoping to find a medicinal herb of sorts to replace Keith’s cloth bandages, but he had no clue which ones were toxic or rash-inducing.

Four, there was an abundance of wildlife. They’d seen mammal-like creatures and two-headed birds. Plenty of fish. Lance knew there were also more terrifying creatures out there in the dark spaces of the trees. In fact, he was positive something was tracking them when they’d ventured too deep into the unknown.

Five, the entire space had to have been only two or three miles in length, and even less than that in width. Lance figured it was good in some ways — it definitely increased their chances of being found by Shiro should he come and rescue them (Keith had helpfully reminded Lance that there was a tracker in his suit). But it also meant they shared a very small territory with the existing life forms. And there weren’t a lot of places to hide.

They did find a nice cave-like structure near the lake, though. Thankfully, it wasn't occupied by animal skulls or other signs of predation. In other words, Lance was more than happy to set up camp there, and he had no intention of sleeping out in the creepy ass forest again.

He ordered Keith to rest while he left to collect some kindling for their first real meal. Keith had insisted he was fine, but Lance had shot him a look, and the boy relented.

Lance spent a few minutes picking up sticks from the ground and breaking low-hanging branches off the trees. Then he felt it again—the feeling of being watched.

He turned, glaring out at the dark spaces of the forest. His bayard pulsed at his hip.

Out of the shadows, two glowing yellow eyes appeared, high enough off the ground to belong to something big. Something dangerous.

Lance swallowed, inching backward.

He heard a low growl, and it sent him into a mad panic. He dropped the sticks and snatched his bayard, the gun forming in his trembling fingers.

But by the time he’d taken aim, the eyes had vanished.

OoO

**Keith's POV**

“I told you there was a forest monster!” Lance cried, dumping a pathetic pile of sticks on the floor of the cave.

Keith sighed heavily. “What happened?”

“I almost died, that’s what happened.”

Keith sat up, wincing slightly at the dull ache in his abdomen. “Are you hurt?”

Lance’s hands fell to his sides, and he blinked down at him. “No. I’m… not hurt. But there’s some kind of beast in the forest, and it’s hungry.”

Keith glanced past Lance’s figure to the dark world beyond. “Did it attack you?”

“…Not exactly.”

Keith rolled his eyes. Lance and his fucking dramatics.

“But it’s still scary! It could be a space bear. Or a space tiger.”

“Or it could be a figment of your imagination,” Keith supplied, grinning a little at Lance’s indignant protests. He’d missed that.

He’d missed Lance. 

“I’ll go look around tomorrow,” Keith said. “If it really is dangerous, maybe we can hunt it and eat it.”

That appeared to satisfy the paladin. “Right. I don’t know how long I can live off of fish and berries.” His brow creased. “We also don’t know how long we’ll be here. We should be careful about our consumption. We can’t deplete our resources.”

Keith couldn’t help the impressed look that spread across his face. Lance glanced to the side, embarrassed.

“I just…we lived off the land a lot in Cuba. Sustainable farming was a big deal for us.”

“No, it’s a good point. How should we go about it?” Keith asked.

Lance stared at him.

Keith frowned at the boy’s silence. “…What?” 

The paladin crouched and began piling up the firewood. “…No one’s really asked for my input in a while. I mean…not unsarcastically, at least.”

Guilt crept into Keith's his system. And a bit of resentment toward his team for letting Lance’s insecurities fester while he’d been away. “Why not? You always have good ideas.”

Lance scoffed. “I have _stupid_ ideas.”

“Sometimes,” Keith agreed, and Lance glanced up at him, a tentative smile on his lips. “But I was always the impulsive one. You were the one with the strategy. The plan.”

Keith was glad to see the same old dynamic between them—a relationship that had formed just weeks before Keith had left the team. Not only had he and Lance become friends, but Lance had actually begun to lower his defenses around Keith. He stopped stroking his own ego. He stopped with the bravado.

Keith never thought they’d be able to pick up where they left off, and yet, Lance still trusted him enough to show his bruises.

Keith wasn't sure Lance knew how much that meant to him.

“Lance…”

Before Keith could finish his thought, a white light erupted on the horizon, the wave of energy soaring toward them. 

“Shit,” Lance murmured. “Not agai—"

OoO

Keith was in the Red Lion.

Well. Metaphysically at least.

He knew by now the feeling of another person’s memory—he’d explored plenty of his mother’s past while tending to her on that asteroid. Things that explained Keith’s heritage. His upbringing. His mother and her love for him.

They hadn’t had a moment to talk about it all yet. He hoped he’d still have the chance.

Now, he was in space, outside some kind of shield station by the looks of it. And they were under fire. Or…it felt like it at least, with the lion shuddering and groaning beneath his feet. 

Lance sat in the pilot’s seat, tense and focused. “Uh, guys? That radiation belt is getting closer!”

“Last piece in place. Fire up that power, Pidge!” Hunk shouted. 

Keith frowned, studying the display to make sense of what was happening.

Reconnected, the metals plates of the station began glowing, and in a blast of electric energy, the shield was activated once again, barring the planet below from the vicious radiation band. 

“Heck yeah!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his fist in the air.

Keith smiled, listening to Allura’s praise and Hunk’s panting echoing in the space of Lance’s memory. As strange as it was not to be a part of this unit anymore, he was still happy to see that the team could operate successfully without him. He was proud of them. 

The joyous moment was short-lived, however.

“What’s going on with the plates?!” Lance cried as the electric current failed once more, and the station pieces began busting apart under the concentrated radiation. 

The center of the station began sparking—an explosion just waiting to happen.

“Get out of here!” Keith heard himself shouting, lunging toward the controls as if he had any influence on this memory.

Luckily, Lance was on the same wavelength. He gasped, realizing what was about to happen.

Thank god—

“Allura!” Lance shouted, voice desperate and afraid and urgent.

The lion surged forward, crashing into the Blue Lion and pushing it out of the way. Condemning Lance and the Red Lion to the station’s catastrophic discharge.

Keith watched in horror as electric blue light filled the cockpit and Lance screamed in agony, arching against the power flooding his body, frying his nervous system. 

The moment passed, leaving a cold, numbing silence, a power-dead lion, and a very still Lance McClain.

Keith’s eyes filled with water. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He could only stare helplessly at the body slumped in the chair.

“Lance?” he whispered, tongue heavy.

“_Lance_!”

Keith swallowed, stepping out of the way as Allura came dashing into the cockpit. She crouched at Lance’s side, speaking to Lance, tilting him back, performing her healing ritual. 

He couldn’t hear a thing she was saying.

Because Lance couldn’t hear her.

Because…

Because Lance was…

OoO

Keith stared at the wall of the cave as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He blinked away the tears in his eyes and took a deep, painful breath.

Lance had fallen on his ass at some point, and he had found a particularly interesting piece of dirt to look at while Keith finished processing.

“Did you just…die?” Keith asked at last.

Lance winced. “I…I had to save Allura.”

Keith really wished he wasn’t injured right now. He would have loved to punch something. Maybe kick a few trees.

“You died,” he repeated. Trying to get used to the sentence. Spitting it out for the poison it was. “How come no one told me?”

Pain flashed over Lance’s face, and his gaze locked on Keith's. “You weren’t there_. _How could we?”

Keith felt like he’d been shot through the chest.

He opened his mouth, but he had no response to that.

He _hadn’t_ been there.

Lance had almost died—he _had_ died—and Keith hadn’t been there to save him.

Lance stared back at him, eyes upturned, biting his lip. Then another flash of light engulfed them, and this time, Keith was greeted with a memory of his own.

OoO

It was hard to watch.

The pain on his face when he realized what needed to be done to destroy those shields. His own hands clasping tight around the thrust levers. 

Matt screaming at him to stop.

Keith closing his eyes, accepting his end—

And then a flash of red heat behind his eyelids….

OoO

Lance shot to his feet, pointing an accusatory finger at Keith. Fucking fuming.

“What the hell?! You were going to _sacrifice _yourself?” he screeched.

Keith scowled. “Pot, kettle."

Lance shook his head furiously. “This is not the same thing.”

“You’re right. It isn’t. I didn’t actually die."

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Fuck you. I didn’t think I’d die. You _knew_ what that choice would mean. It wasn’t an impulsive decision. You thought about it!” The paladin began pacing, and Keith’s tired eyes followed him back and forth, back and forth. “You always do that. Think everything rests on your shoulders!”

Keith slumped back against the wall. So it wasn’t one of his best moments, alright? He’d been haunted by that night for months. It still made him shudder thinking about how easy it'd been to flick the switch. “I was just…I was trying to save us, Lance. All of us.”

Lance paused, turning around with a devastated look on his face. “I know. But…what do you think we’d do without you?”

Keith tilted his head up at him. “You’re doing just fine without me.”

Lance exhaled sharply. “That’s not true.”

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“It’s not.” Lance gave up on his pacing and slid to the ground opposite Keith. “There’s…something missing, Keith. Shiro isn’t acting…normal. And Allura’s all smitten with Lotor. And Pidge has been off looking for her family. Hunk is always face-timing Shay. Coran has been obsessed with the publicity stuff. It’s not the same Voltron anymore.” He looked at Keith through bashful lashes. “We’ve missed you, okay? _I’ve_ missed you.”

Keith stared at him. Uncomprehending. “You have?”

Did Lance really just admit that? Out loud?

Lance nodded, glancing away. “You’re important to us. More than you realize. So don’t go off dying, alright, dumbass? Jeez.”

Keith’s chest was suddenly too tight, and he couldn’t take it. He swallowed, pushing the emotion down and away. He had to make one thing clear. “You’re important too, Lance. You know that, right?”

The paladin huffed. “I wasn’t the pilot of the Black Lion.”

“No. You were my right hand though.”

The corners of Lance’s mouth lifted, but it was too sad to qualify as a smile. 

“I _was_.”

OoO

**Lance's POV**

Lance had slept like shit after all that.

Apparently, he needed to put Keith on fucking suicide watch. 

The guy was like, addicted to dying. 

And none of them had even known. Of course, Lance knew that Keith was a maniac with a death wish. But not…literally. He’d never known Keith thought so little of himself. That with the Blade, the boy had become a soldier sent to die for a cause and little else. And the team had let him stay with psychos like that! 

Keith had almost gone and blown himself up for _sacrifice_, denying Lance and Shiro and the team a goodbye, and then they’d waved him off and sent him back to an organization that didn’t care about him.

Lance hated Keith for making him hate himself.

Needless to say, images of Keith’s suicide attempt and his own nightmarish memory kept him tossing and turning for hours. When he finally opened his eyes to the early morning light pooling into the cave, he came face to face with a row of canines and two yellow, glowing eyes.

Yeah. You could say he fucking _lost it_.

Shrieking, Lance threw his body to the side and away from the beast, landing on top of a disgruntled and injured Keith.

“KEITH!”

The boy sat bolt upright, knife in hand and alert. Lance rolled behind him and pointed to the wolf with a shaky hand. 

“IT’S TRYING TO EAT ME.”

“Shut the hell up, Lance,” Keith hissed, shoving him back and away. 

The blade rose to a crouch, and the wolf turned to face him, growling at low octaves, ready for a fight. 

“Easy, boy,” Keith said, holding one hand out in a placating gesture. “Easy. We don’t want to hurt you.”

“Don’t lower your defenses, idiot! Kill it before it kills us!”

“_Lance_.”

Bristles rose on the wolf’s back, and Lance whirled around, searching wildly for his bayard. If Keith was going to be a dumb shit about this, then Lance would have to rise to the occasion and save their—

“Thatta boy. No knife, okay? We just wanna talk.”

Lance froze, glancing over his shoulder.

Keith, the mother of all idiots, had discarded his only weapon. Now, he held out both hands within reach of the demon wolf’s razor teeth. 

“_Keith_,” Lance cautioned. 

But Keith ignored him. He was seriously taking this suicidal thing to the next level.

Slowly, the wolf rose from its position of attack, but instead of pouncing, it took one cautious step toward Keith. Sniffing.

“Now, Keith. While the monster’s distracted.”

“Lance. It’s a wolf. A _space_ wolf. I’m not killing it.” Keith watched the beast sniff his bare palm. “I think this was its den.”

“So?”

“So we took its home,” Keith explained slowly, as if Lance were a child. "It thinks we're intruders."

The wolf made a grunting sound and backed away from Keith, deciding he was no longer a legitimate threat. Instead, the beast took to investigating the fire and Lance's discarded helmet. 

Lance glanced at his companion, who stared down at the wolf thoughtfully. He raised his brows in alarm. “Uh-uh. No way. I know what that face is.”

Keith crossed his arms. “What face?”

“Your ‘can I keep it?’ face.”

Keith scoffed, but that yearning look in his eyes didn’t falter. 

“Dude, come on, it could have rabies. Or space diseases. In Cuba, you don’t touch strays. They’ll either bite you or follow you home.”

“Yeah. But…he’s all alone,” Keith murmured.

“And?”

“And I know what that’s like…”

Oh. 

_Jesus_.

Damn bastard was trying to emotionally manipulate him into adopting a _wolf_!

Keith took a step forward, and the wolf tensed, eyeing Keith's bare hand with murderous eyes. 

Lance tugged on the Marmora uniform at Keith's waist. "I didn’t stick my hand in your stomach just for you to die from space whale rabies."

"Shut up, Lance."

The wolf looked between them curiously, huffed through its wet nose, and proceeded to lift its leg and piss all over Lance's armor. 

Marking his goddamn territory all over the place. 

Lance gaped. "You _fucker_..."

The wolf turned on its heels and sprinted out of the cave into the hazy woods, and Lance could have sworn those yellow eyes were laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY. 
> 
> Next time? More bonding. And perhaps a certain memory...that a certain someone pretended to forget...will resurface.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo. 34RiverStone just posted a new Klance crack on YouTube, and it was sooo good that it inspired me to write this next chapter. 
> 
> It appears I'm sticking with monthly updates right now? At least until the ball gets rolling. Thanks for all the support so far!

**Keith's POV**

Over the next few days, they boys spent most of their time in and around the cave, keeping Lance’s helmet within ear-shot in hopes of hearing the sweet rumble of static and Shiro’s urgent voice.

But for three days there was only radio silence, and Keith could see the fear in Lance’s eyes, the tension in his shoulders. He wished he could offer him words of comfort, but Keith had barely even survived the first week on this whale—his outlook was pretty bleak, to say the least. 

They tried to busy themselves with fishing and collecting inventory data on their resources, as Lance had suggested. Lance showed him the edible berry bushes and a few potential herbs, but the limited supply made Keith uneasy. They still didn’t know the growing seasons here…if there even _were_ seasons. They might not have access to the fruit for long. And they weren’t even sure what else they could eat. 

Lance joked that if it came down to it, they could pull a _Hunger Games_ and eat a handful of the yellow berries at the same time. If they were poisonous, they’d find out together.

Keith didn’t think it was very funny.

On the bright side, the young wolf had appeared outside the cave each night, sniffing at the cave entrance. Keith had made sure to leave a few fish scraps outside as a means of apology for stealing the dog’s abode. 

And yeah. Okay. Maybe he also wanted to befriend the wolf. Much to Lance’s horror.

“You’re _feeding_ him now?” Lance had cried when he’d spotted the bones and entrails in the grass. “Keith. That’s the number one rule! Never feed a stray.”

“Wouldn’t you rather have a wolf of that size on our side?”

“I’d rather have a nice fur coat in case this space whale freezes over!”

Keith ignored him. He continued to feed the wolf what meat he could spare. Something about seeing paw prints in the soil every morning made him feel less alone in all this. 

Because yeah, he had Lance. And Lance would never run out of things to talk about for as long as he lived. But this lone wolf reminded Keith of himself, and maybe a bit of Red. If he could earn this creature's trust, if he could tame a wild beast…then maybe there was hope for Keith too.

Maybe someday, Keith could also find his place and grow his roots there. 

OoO

On the seventh night, another solar flare interrupted Keith’s dreamless sleep to drop him right in the middle of a rainstorm.

He was in a grassy field of some sort. An empty park in the middle of an empty neighborhood.

Before him, a young child appeared. His soccer uniform was drenched and muddy, and his dark brown bangs hung low over his red, puffy eyes.

_Lance_, Keith realized, his chest tightening. 

He was small, maybe nine or ten years old. Twinkling eyes somber, cocky grin defeated. 

Young Lance gave a growl of frustration, and he ran forward, kicking a soccer ball to the other end of the field—straight into an old, rusty soccer net. 

Keith expected the boy to smile at the goal he’d made, but he just continued to sniffle and cry as he ran to fetch the ball. 

He dribbled up to the same position. Wiped his runny nose. Shuddered from the cold. 

And he tried again.

And again.

Finally, a car door slammed from behind them, and Keith watched a teenage girl walk up to Lance, holding her jacket up over her head. She had warm hazel eyes and lopsided square glasses. Dark hair that curled up in the humid air. A mouth set in a tight line.

_She must be a relative,_ Keith reasoned. A sister? He knew Lance had several siblings. He’d just…never taken the time to really listen. 

Or ask.

The girl gripped Lance’s shoulder and squeezed. “Venga.”

Lance wrenched away, shaking his head. 

“Lance,” she persisted, although her tone was gentle. “I know you’re upset. But everyone's waiting in the car. It’s time to go home.”

Lance stared down at the ball between his feet, and he bit his trembling lip. 

“I have to get it right,” he whispered. “I can’t let them down again, Ronnie.”

“It’s a team sport. This wasn’t your fault.”

“They were counting on me. The team. Coach. Mami and you and Luis…” He sniffled. "And I let them down.”

“Lance…”

But the boy didn’t want to hear it.

He shot forward to kick another goal.

And another.

OoO

Keith slowly opened his eyes to stare at the cavern wall—the fire behind him casting large, dancing shadows against the brown surface. 

He swallowed. “That…”

“Was weird,” Lance finished for him. Keith turned over to find the boy sitting up across the fire, wiping his eyes. “Out of all the random memories, it chose _that_ one?”

“What do you mean?”

Lance shrugged and glanced away, but the flames only highlighted the tear tracks on his cheek. “I mean…it couldn’t have picked the time I scored the winning goal? Or the time I showed my little nephew how to play?” 

Keith frowned. He’d been much more concerned about Lance’s behavior, not what led to it. Who cares that he’d lost the game? “Are you embarrassed?”

Cautious eyes flicked back to his. “No. I...maybe.” He huffed. “I mean. I just don’t know if I want you to see _everything_…you know? Like…every time I’ve been vulnerable? Every time I’ve cried?”

Keith’s stomach dropped at the plethora of things he didn’t want Lance to see. And the fact that he had absolutely no power over what he would. “No, yeah. I get it.”

When Lance said nothing more, Keith lay back down, watching the fire slowly die and crumble. Wondering what made that memory float to the surface. Wondering if maybe there was more to all these visions…and wondering if maybe they weren’t as coincidental as they’d thought.

Maybe the flare tapped into their subconscious. Or maybe it was trying to _show_ him something. Something Keith needed to know.

The memory had depicted Lance as a child, so desperate to be good, to be the best, to not disappoint his family and peers again. So early in his life, Lance had developed these insecurities. The fear of inadequacy. Of failure. 

Before Keith had left for the Blade, Lance had brought up similar fears, and he wondered if their one-on-one had resolved any of those concerns, or if Keith leaving had only heightened them. Based on their conversation a few days ago, it was apparent that Lance still didn’t think he was a vital component to the Team.

Was he still that same boy beating himself up for making one mistake? Did he still live every day thinking he didn’t deserve to be there?

Did he still not see how much he meant to everyone?

To Keith?

OoO

**Lance's POV**

Lance had prayed to the universe to spare him from any more embarrassing memories. Especially when he was here with Keith.

Like, why did Keith of all people have to see him be such a wimp? Why couldn’t his memories show off his awesomeness? Or his cooking skills or dancing skills or _something? _Was god trying to punish him for all those times he cheated off of Pidge on his exams? Was this his eternal torment?

But it appeared Lance’s prayers didn’t go entirely unheeded. The next time a solar flare burned white spheres into his retinas, the universe switched things up.

One second Lance was tying seaweed together to form a fishing net, and the next he was locked in a supply closet with a slightly younger Keith and for some strange, appalling reason, James Douchebag Griffin.

Lance flailed and stumbled backward into the shelf.

_The hell?_

Keith had James pinned to the door, his uniform shirt clenched in gloved fists. He was half a head shorter than James, who still had that obnoxious rich-boy haircut and crooked grin.

“Eager much, Mullet?”

Eager? Eager for what? And why the hell was James using _Lance’s_ nickname?

“Shut up,” Keith growled. 

And then he smashed his mouth against James’s. Just...kissed him. Right on the lips. 

Lance’s brain short-circuited. 

Keith. Keith was making out with James. He was—holy shit—he was sticking his tongue down the boy’s throat. And James was moaning and holy shit, _holy shit._

Oh god. Lance wanted to die.

He kicked at the door in hopes of somehow escaping from the closet and the handsy, horny teens.

Then he heard a belt buckle and a zipper, and Keith was dropping to his knees, and Lance gasped in horror as the boy tugged James’s pants down to his ankles.

OoO

Lance screamed and dropped his net back into the water. “What the _fuck?!_”

He heard Keith swear from where he stood on the bank, and Lance dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. 

“My eyes! Holy shit, my eyes!”

Keith. Keith and James. 

Keith giving James a blowjob in a supply closet.

He could never, ever erase that. Goddammit.

Lance finally looked up to find Keith sitting on the pebbled beach, his head in his arms. His entire neck was bright red.

Well at least Lance wasn’t the only one traumatized by that.

“Dude,” he whisper-shouted. “_James_? For real? I thought you liked Allura!”

Keith slowly lifted his head to glare at him, and Lance had never seen the boy blush so hard in his life. “You’re more of an idiot than I thought.”

Lance felt sick to his stomach. He needed to sit. 

He needed to…compartmentalize. 

He collapsed next to Keith in a heap and sat there in stunned silence for a few heartbeats. 

Keith. Blowjobs.

Keith _and_ blowjobs.

_Nope. Nope, nope, nope. _

“Look,” he said after a minute of hating his entire existence, “maybe we should...like...tell each other what to expect before it pops up unannounced, you know? At least…maybe let me know what I’m in for.”

Keith sighed heavily beside him. “Yeah. I guess.”

“So.” Lance turned to face him, hardly able to look the boy in the face. “You’re gay.”

Keith studied him for a moment. Then he replied with a very exhausted, “Yeah.”

It wasn’t even that shocking of a revelation—the guy wore leather gloves and a cropped jacket. He couldn’t flirt for the life of him. And Lance had never even _seen_ him talk to a girl outside the Team. But Lance had never even considered that Keith wasn't straight. The guy was just so…callous. And untouchable. And girls were always gushing over him.

“Have you uh…been with a lot of guys?” Lance asked, wincing as it left his mouth. “Actually, you don’t have to answer that. I just…”

“A few. Mostly hookups.” Keith looked him over, an expression of dread on his face. “Am I going to have to see you fucking a bunch of girls now? Because I think I’d rather die.”

Lance released a soft bark of laughter, glad the sentiment was mutual. “No. I mean. I’m not…I haven’t…ever done…that.”

Lance closed his eyes. _Smooth, Lance. Could you sound like any _more_ of a virgin?_

Keith raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Are you serious? So…what, Loverboy Lance is all an act?”

Lance looked away. How had the spotlight shifted to him all of a sudden? Keith was the one who'd given head to James _Griffin_.

“I’ve made out with a lot of girls. And I’ve had the opportunity before. But…I never wanted to do it with someone who didn’t really like me back, you know? It never felt _right_.” When he spared a glance in Keith’s direction, the boy nodded in understanding. 

“I get it,” Keith prompted. “You’re not into the casual thing. You’re looking for more.”

“Yeah. Exactly.” Lance felt a bit of his self-consciousness melt away. “The problem is most girls don’t want anything serious with me. A night out? Sure. But a relationship with Lance McClain?” He released a mirthless chuckle. “Not a chance.”

When he looked back at Keith, the boy was staring at him with an intensity that surprised him. “That’s bullshit.”

Lance shook his head. “It’s true. I’m just…a _lot_. And I get that. I tend to come on too strong—Allura’s said as much. But even when I do catch their attention, as soon as they get to know me they realize I’m not anything special.”

Keith threw a pebble at his face, decking him right in the forehead.

“Ow!” He gaped at his glaring, emo companion. “What the hell, Keith!”

“Don’t say that. I hate it when you drag yourself.”

Lance rubbed his brow, but he sent Keith a quizzical look. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s only fun if I do it.”

Lance snorted, shoving Keith in the arm. “Fine. I’ll keep it to a minimum.”

“Great. Can you keep _all_ talking to a minimum?”

“Fuck you.”

They sat together on the beach for a while a longer, staring out at the small lake and the gentle waves lapping at their feet. 

Lance could feel the shift taking place right there in that moment. A new shift, a _pleasant_ shift. He now knew something huge about Keith, something that completely altered the landscape of their relationship. Suddenly Keith was no longer the stupidly hot, stupidly straight tough guy who out-competed Lance at everything. He didn’t think he was too good for all the girls Lance would have given _anything_ to talk to. He didn’t even judge Lance for his inexperience. 

And Lance…for some reason…was now comfortable enough around him to confide in him about his insecurities. He’d only done that once, really. Back when Lance had offered to step down. But now, Keith was just a guy who posed no threat to Lance’s love life, career, or success. He was just a teammate he actually enjoyed having around to tease and poke fun at. 

A _friend_.

OoO

**Keith's POV**

Two days later, Keith found Lance on top of the short, rocky cliff overlooking the lake. His strength had returned in full now, and it was much easier to run and climb and swim, even if Lance berated him for it.

“You shouldn’t disappear like that,” Keith muttered, panting slightly from the climb. He could feel his pale skin beginning to burn too—a consequence of wandering around half-naked after Lance ripped up his Marmora clothes for bandages. “I thought you’d gone and drowned or something.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration.

Lance had told him he was going searching for mollusks over three hours ago. Keith had enjoyed the alone time, but after the second hour of silence, he’d started to worry.

Now, Lance didn’t respond—he didn’t even acknowledge Keith’s presence—and Keith shuffled forward awkwardly. He stood next to Lance, and he glanced down at that furrowed brow and sun-kissed face.

"They don’t have either of us,” the paladin said at last. 

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. “And?”

“And that means they have no one to pilot Red.” Lance looked up at him with a sober expression. “Keith, we’ve left them defenseless.”

Keith held his gaze. “They’ll be okay. They’ve got Shiro. And the Blade. And who knows? Maybe Red will finally let Coran pilot until we find a way back home.”

It was a shit joke, and like most of Keith’s attempts to lighten the mood, it failed.

“What if we don’t?” Lance whispered, turning back to the lake below them, the uncharted forest beyond.

“What?”

“…What if we don’t find a way _home_?”

OoO

Lance hadn’t spoken much that night, and he mumbled something about _collecting inventory _the next morning before wandering off on his own into the forest. Keith had debated joining him, but he also knew that sometimes isolation was necessary to process one's thoughts. 

And Lance had a lot on his mind. 

Unlike Keith, Lance had a family to get back to. Sure, Keith had Krolia now, but Lance had a lot more at stake than the alien boy who abandoned his own team. Lance had a home out there. And he was facing the very real possibility that he’d lost it forever.

So Keith let him come to terms with things on his own.

But he regretted that decision the instant Lance came staggering out of the woods, vomiting into the canopy and shouting for help.

Keith threw his fishing spear aside and sprinted for the paladin, who now lay on the ground, convulsing. 

Keith’s gut bottomed out. “Lance? Lance, what the fuck happened?”

Lance groaned, shaking as Keith threw his arm over his shoulder and dragged him into the cave. Saliva covered the boy’s chin, and his dilated pupils swallowed the entirety of his irises.

Keith set him down against the wall and crouched by his side, eyes flicking over Lance’s body for damage. “Lance, what’s wrong? What did you do?”

“Yellow berries,” Lance mumbled, his eyes fluttering shut. “Bad. Very bad.”

Keith felt the blood drain from his face. “You ate the yellow berries?!”

Lance nodded, and then he turned on his side and dry-heaved, swearing in Spanish. 

“This is why you can’t just go around eating whatever the fuck you want!” Keith hissed.

“Birds…eating them…thought s’okay.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have the time to reprimand his teammate. He cupped the side of Lance’s face so he’d look at him. “How much did you eat?”

Lance winced, another shudder racking his body. “Jus’ half of a berry. Didn’t…think…enough to…”

“And you puked a lot already?”

Lance moaned, nodding again.

There wasn’t much more Keith could do for him then. Not without the right medical aid. “I’m going to get you some water. I’ll be right back.”

As Keith rose to leave, Lance snatched his arm, a pleading expression on his face. He looked so scared and desperate and vulnerable that Keith could hardly breathe. 

“I’ll be back in thirty seconds. I promise.”

Lance grudgingly let him go, and Keith ran down to the lake and filled one of the coconut-like shells with water. His own hand was trembling as he dashed back to the cave, and he wondered how he could nearly kill himself with zero hesitation, but when it came to Lance’s safety, he could hardly keep it together.

When he returned to the cave, Lance was curled up on his side, shaking his head back and forth as if warding off some invisible entity. 

Keith knelt beside him. “Hey, Lance. I need you to drink this.”

Lance shivered, but he allowed Keith to lift the bowl to his lips, and he took a few meager sips, cringing as he did so. 

Keith felt helpless. “Lance…what do you need? Are you in pain? Are you—”

Blue eyes flashed open then, and Keith was struck speechless as heavy tears spilled over Lance’s cheeks. 

Lance shuffled backward on his hands, shaking his head. He closed his eyes again and clasped his hands to his ears. “No, no, no, no, no…make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.”

Keith stared at him, horrified. Lance was _hallucinating_.

“Hey, it’s me. It’s _Keith_,” he said, his voice breaking at the end. 

Lance continued to sob and crawl away from him, desperate to escape whatever nightmares plagued him, and Keith felt the urge to cry. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to end Lance’s suffering?

He wet his lips and approached his friend once more, but this time, he grabbed Lance’s hand and placed it against his own chest, right over his heart.

Lance flinched but didn’t pull away. He kept his eyes closed as he continued chanting in Spanish.

“You feel that, Lance?” Keith asked, sitting so their knees bumped together. “That’s me. You’re here with me. It’s the two of us and no one else.”

“Faces…I see all their faces…” Lance whispered, shaking his head. 

Keith could feel his heart breaking at the sound of Lance’s complete and utter terror. 

“I know. But it’s just the berries, Lance. They’re making you see things that aren’t there. It’s just me.” He leaned forward to rest his temple against Lance’s sweaty forehead. “Just…focus on my voice, okay? My voice and my heartbeat.”

Lance whimpered, but he gave a slight nod, and his clammy fingers curled against Keith’s bare skin. 

“There. Feel that heartbeat? It's beating out of my chest because I'm so fucking scared."

Lance convulsed again, and his head dropped to Keith’s shoulder, where he burrowed into his neck, as if Keith alone could keep him anchored to this reality. “You don’t…get scared.”

It was the most coherent thing the paladin had uttered since he’d come stumbling out of the berry patch, and Keith took it as a positive sign. He brought his other hand to cradle the back of Lance’s head. “I’m always scared. I’m just good at hiding it.”

Lance shook his head, loosing a string of Cuban curses. “They’re all dead, Keith. All of them.”

Keith’s heart grew cold. 

Was that what he was imagining? Their dead comrades? His dead _family_? 

“No. Lance, it’s not real. Everyone is fine. They’ve got Shiro and Allura to look out for them. Voltron won’t let anything happen to Earth while we’re away.”

Hot tears seeped into Keith’s skin as Lance wrapped his other arm around him and pulled himself into Keith’s lap, hand still pressed flush to Keith’s chest. “My fault. Always my fault."

Keith closed his eyes to block his own tears. 

Before he had a chance to try and convince Lance otherwise, a familiar flash of white light engulfed them.

OoO

Lance groaned, pitching forward into Keith’s lap. 

“Lance?”

The boy closed his eyes, unmoving. “Everything hurts.”

Keith sighed, pulling Lance around so he was reclining against him. “We should probably get you to a pod.”

Lance made a pouty face. “The pods are so…lonely.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’ll be asleep. You won’t even know.”

“I’ll still be _alone_,” Lance argued, and Keith’s lips twitched. 

“It’s better than being dead, isn’t it?”

Lance sighed loudly, opening his eyes to look at Keith with a fond expression. “Only just.”

Keith chuckled, grabbing hold of Lance’s arm and lifting him up. Lance leaned all his weight against him, swaying slightly.

“Oh.”

Keith glanced at him warily. “What?”

Lance’s head drooped forward. “You’re just…_strong_.”

Keith frowned. “You must be pretty fucked up if you’re complimenting me.”

Lance snorted. 

Keith glanced at Shiro, who sat beside Pidge, the two paladins still recovering from the fight with Sendak. “Can you find Coran and tell him I’ll meet him at the pods?”

Shiro nodded. “Thanks Keith.”

Lance sagged into him, groaning. “Mtherr….fucker…”

“You doing okay?” Keith asked as they stumbled down the corridor. 

“My head feels like a bowling ball.”

“We both know there’s not enough brain in there to make it that heavy.”

Instead of rising to the bait, Lance just snickered, and Keith was suddenly very concerned for the boy’s wellbeing. 

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Keith stopped in the middle of the hallway to stare at the paladin. “_What_?”

Lance glanced up at him in confusion, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder. “You know. About me being dumb.”

Keith glared at him. “Lance…that was a joke. I don’t actually think you’re dumb.” His shoulders dropped. “You know that, right?”

Lance made some noncommittal noise, and Keith pressed his lips together. Now wasn’t the time for this. He wanted Lance to be perfectly lucid when they had _that_ talk. 

“Come on. We’re almost there.”

They kept walking. Or, Lance all but stopped using his feet, and Keith towed him forward. Eventually, they found the medical room adjacent to the bridge, and Keith dropped Lance down on the patient chair. The boy instantly teetered to the side, and Keith jostled forward to balance him. 

“Jeez.”

“S...rry.”

With a sigh, Keith assessed the boy’s burnt and scuffed-up armor. “Come on, let’s take this off.”

Lance grinned at that, barely opening his eyes but managing a smug squint. “Trying to get me naked?”

Keith huffed, detaching the breastplate and lifting it over Lance’s head. “Keep it in your pants.”

“You’re the one taking them off.”

Keith tsked, removing Lance’s gauntlets next because the paladin was entirely useless. He felt Lance’s eyes on him as he bent to unstrap his boots and slide them off his feet.

“You’d think…I’d want Allura here instead,” the boy pondered aloud.

Keith’s hands paused, and he glanced up at Lance with what he hoped was concealed pain. “You want me to get her?”

Lance shook his head, blinking slowly like he was struggling to stay awake. “No…that’s why it’s _weird_.”

Keith frowned, reaching for the buckle around Lance’s thigh. He hooked his fingers through the armor, careful to avoid Lance’s inner thigh as he tugged the piece down his leg and off. He repeated the same process for the other leg, leaving Lance in his under-armor suit and belt.

Keith reached for the last accessory, but Lance clasped his hand over it first, blushing. “I got this one.”

Keith smirked a little at the red on the boy’s cheeks. He knew it was hard to have Lance’s perceived ex-rival babying him like this. But…he was glad to be able to take care of him. He actually liked this docile side of Lance. His vulnerability. 

Keith’s gaze roamed over the closet and the array of white clothes hanging there. Clothes that Lance would have to change into.

_Yeah, okay. _He had _not_ thought this through.

He cleared his throat, glancing back at the half-conscious paladin. “Do you want me to help you change into a pod suit, or do you want to wait for Coran?”

Lance hesitated, but then he shook his head. “I…don’t want Coran to feel guilty.”

Keith was about to ask what he meant, but then he remembered that Lance had jumped in front of the man to save him, taking the full brunt of the explosion himself. 

He didn’t want Coran to see the damage.

Keith’s chest ached. Here the idiot went again, showing that other side of him, the selflessness shadowed by his hubris. It always confused Keith how someone could be so sweet and intolerable at the same time.

“Okay.”

He fetched a white suit out of the closet and set it down beside Lance. 

Lance was beet red already, and it was _not_ helping. 

Keith reached around him to find the zipper at his nape, and he tugged it down the boy’s spine, trying not to think about what he was doing. Which of course became entirely impossible when Lance groaned and slumped forward, knocking into Keith, his forehead pressed into Keith’s neck. 

Keith froze. “Are you okay?”

“Head’s pounding.”

Keith swallowed, pulling the zipper the rest of the way down, allowing Lance to rest against him. “I’d give you some pain meds if I could understand any of the Altean labels in this room.”

“—’S fine.”

Keith pulled back slightly to tug the suit down over Lance’s shoulders to his wrists. Lance assisted him to his best ability, and then the suit was pooled at the boy’s hips, and Lance was breathing down Keith’s collarbone, and Keith was losing his resolve.

His gay thoughts could go fuck themselves.

He touched Lance’s back to urge him up for a second, but the boy flinched, sucking in a sharp breath and burrowing deeper into Keith’s neck.

“What…” Keith lifted his hand, and to his absolute horror, he found it painted a dark, disturbing red. He tilted his head to see the boy’s back, and he stared.

It was covered in bloody burns and soot and peeling flesh. Parts of his suit had _melted_ into his spine.

“_Fuck_.”

He started to move away, but Lance just reached around him to bring him into a tight embrace, his knees digging into Keith’s hips and holding him captive.

Keith’s breath abandoned him.

“Lance,” he muttered harshly. “Why didn’t you tell me how much pain you were in?”

Lance didn’t answer.

“Okay. Fuck the pod suit. We’re stuffing you in there just like this.”

Lance’s grip tightened on him. “Not yet.”

Keith's heart felt like it was going to break through his ribcage. What was going _on_?

“Lance…”

“Don’t want to be alone.”

Keith sighed, allowing the paladin to cling onto him. When the hug didn’t end, he moved forward, placing a gentle hand on Lance’s leg and another on the unburned portion of his back. 

This was how you held people, right?

“You won’t be alone, Lance.”

Lance tightened his grip. “You coming with me?”

Keith smiled. “No. But I’ll be waiting for you just outside. Enjoying the precious silence.”

“Rude.”

Keith chuckled. “I’ll stay and make sure you heal okay. And if I have to go sleep, I’ll make Shiro take my place. You’ll never be by yourself.”

Lance shifted even closer. “Promise?”

Keith rolled his eyes, but his lips still danced with a soft, amused smile. “Yeah. I promise.”

Lance went quiet after that, so Keith gently zipped his suit again. Lance sighed against him, slowly losing consciousness.

“Number Three!” Coran appeared in the doorway, slightly frazzled. “The Pod is ready.”

“Um. He just passed out,” Keith realized, embarrassed at having been caught in the boy’s tight embrace. “You think we can just stick him in there like this?”

“Yes, that should be fine. Do you have him?”

Keith slipped his arm around Lance’s waist and the other under his knees, lifting him up off the table. Lance’s head lolled against his shoulder, and Keith gazed down at him with tender eyes.

“Yeah. I’ve got him.”

OoO

Lance woke up in the cave a few hours later, with his head tucked against Keith’s neck and his legs thrown over the boy’s lap, but he couldn’t even find the energy to react.

“Am I dead?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

The fingers running through Lance’s hair paused. “No. Despite your best efforts, you’re still here.”

Lance sighed and nuzzled further into the warmth of Keith’s body. “Alright.”

After a few moments, the fingers resumed their motion, and Lance grinned against Keith’s pulse.

“…Thanks.” He hoped Keith knew what he meant by that. All that it encompassed, past and present.

An amused sigh tickled the hair against Lance's temple. “You're welcome. _Dumbass_.”


End file.
